A nearly stationary thunderstorm produced very heavy rainfall. The storm occurred in a low-level east to southeast wind flow underneath a weak upper low.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS PAH wrote it up.
A nearly stationary thunderstorm produced very heavy rainfall. The storm occurred in a low-level east to southeast wind flow underneath a weak upper low.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 2, 8:23 PM CST, 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 923 PM CDT WED SEP 2 2009 .UPDATE... FIRST PERIOD /TONIGHT/ UPDATE FOR SENSIBLE WEATHER TRENDS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. && .DISCUSSION... MESOSCALE VORTICITY CENTER /MVC/ LOCATED NEAR RANDOLPH COUNTY IL /WEST OF CHESTER IL/ AROUND 00Z THURSDAY /7PM CDT WEDNESDAY/ IS EVIDENT IN GOES WATER VAPOR/INFARED IMAGERY AND DIFFERENCE CHANNELS THIS EVENING...WITH GOES IMAGERY SOUNDER DATA SHOWING A PLUME OF PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES BETWEEN 1.25-1.75 INCHES AND LIFTED INDEX VALUES BETWEEN ZERO AND -3 DEGREES CELCIUS. THE TAMDAR SOUNDING AT KPAH AROUND 22Z SUGGESTS THAT ANY PARCELS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE UPWARD INCREASING CLOSER TO A MOIST ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE OVERNIGHT. THE MVC SHOULD SHOULD CONTINUE TO ROTATE SEWD TONIGHT...LIFTING THE MOIST LAYER AHEAD OF IT AND SUPPORTING ISOLATED UPDRAFTS ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING. GIVEN ISOLATED HEAVY PRECIPITATION REPORTS FROM S CENTRAL KY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...PRECIPITATION EFFICIENCY SHOULD REMAIN HIGH...WITH HOURLY RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF AN INCH LIKELY WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WITH HEAVY RAIN. WITH THE INDUCED LOW LEVEL AGEOSTROPHIC FLOW/CONVERGENCE AND MID LEVEL INSTABILITY AHEAD OF THIS SMALL WEATHER DISTURBANCE...I CANNOT ELIMINATE PERIODIC CHANCES OF SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. THE SURFACE WIND FLOW WILL STILL REMAIN WEAK IN THE VICINITY OF THE RAIN AND SURFACE SATURATION WILL OCCUR QUICKLY...SO ADDED A VARIABLE COVERAGE OF FOG TO THE FORECAST PACKAGE OVERNIGHT AS WELL. THE OCCURENCE OF DENSE FOG WILL BE TOO SPOTTY/RANDOM/ TO WARRANT A MENTION AT THIS TIME. WITH THIS WEATHER FEATURE...ADJUSTED THE COVERAGE OF OPAQUE CLOUD COVER AND MODIFIED THE TEMPERATURE/DEWPOINT VALUES TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS OVERNIGHT WEATHER SYSTEM. I AM NOT TOO CONFIDENT ABOUT THE 10 AM TO 1 PM CDT TIME PERIOD ON THURSDAY FOR POP/WEATHER CHANCES...BUT BELIEVE THERE WILL BE A TRANSITION PERIOD FOR LINGERING PRECIPITATION AND FOG AROUND DAYBREAK...AS THE MVC MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. && .AVIATION... /EDITED FROM 216 PM CDT WED SEP 2 2009 ISSUANCE/ VFR CEILINGS EXPECTED TONIGHT AS MOISTURE MOVES IN FROM THE SOUTHEAST. THIS MOISTURE MAY PRODUCE ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAINLY WEST KENTUCKY. ANY PRECIPITATION SHOULD DIMINISH EARLY THIS EVENING. MVFR FOG LIKELY AT MOST TAF SITES WITH KCGI DOWN INTO THE IFR CATEGORY IN FOG. LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED AT ALL SITES. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && SMITH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 455 AM CDT WED SEP 2 2009 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-031000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 455 AM CDT WED SEP 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR OVER THE SOUTHERN PENNYRILE REGION OF KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR OVER THE PENNYRILE REGION OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA THURSDAY AFTERNOON. INTO THE WEEKEND...CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE FROM WEST TO EAST AS A LOW PRESSURE AREA ALOFT DEEPENS JUST TO THE WEST OF THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Street flooding was reported in the usual problem areas on Business Loop U.S. 60 on the south side of Paducah. The water was one to three feet deep and caused at least a few vehicles to stall out. One small car floated around. Police assisted motorists.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, September 2009
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 194445.